Walling product

ABSTRACT

A walling product comprising reconstituted walling material formed as a block, in which at least one end of the block is adapted for mutual engagement with the corresponding end of another such block, said end providing both horizontal and vertical mating surfaces. The ends of the blocks may be formed as tongues formed with through-holes for receipt of a dowel, bar or pin to retain the blocks in registration.

This invention relates to walling products and in particular providesblocks of reconstituted walling material which, when assembled and fixedtogether to form a wall, has the appearance of a wall formed from.conventional materials such as brick or natural stone. The invention isparticularly intended to relate to decorative garden-type walling.

It is already known to provide reconstituted walling blocks having anouter side surface simulating smaller-dimensioned walling elementsjoined by mortar so that, in the finished wall, the appearance is givenas though the entire wall were made from the smaller-dimensioned blocksjoined by mortar but, in practical terms, the appearance of thesimulated mortar is almost invariably different from that of the realmortar, with the result that the finished wall fails to give theintended impression and, in fact, gives just the opposite impression, itbeing plain to the observer that the wall is, in fact, made fromartificial materials. Furthermore, the conventional walling blocks areinherently unsuited for purposes other than straight walls and,additionally, a double-sided wall must be built with a double skin ofouter-facing courses of blocks, since the reverse side faces of theblocks are invariably plain.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reconstitutedwalling block which overcomes the disadvantages of blocks as currentlyavailable and which enables walls such as decorative garden walls to bebuilt in a short time.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a walling productcomprising reconstituted walling material formed as a block, in which atleast one end of the block is adapted for mutual engagement with thecorresponding end of another such block, said end providing bothhorizontal and vertical mating surfaces.

In use, blocks according to the invention may be assembled and fixedtogether to provide a wall in any desired shape and height, the matingsurfaces as between adjacent blocks disguising the join and giving theimpression, in the wall as a whole, of being made entirely fromnaturally occurring materials according to the side surfaceconfiguration and colouring of the individual blocks. Preferably, theheight is restricted to that of a maximum of two blocks.

The ends of the blocks which are adapted for respective mutualengagement preferably present two vertical mating surfaces extendingrespectively from the upper and lower faces of the block to a medialposition, the surfaces being longitudinally spaced apart and joined by ahorizontal mating surface, whereby the end of the block presents atongue and a recess and two blocks with such mating surfaces can bejoined in end-to-end mating relationship, the horizontal mating surfacesbeing in mutual contact at half the height of the block and the tongueof one block engaging in the recess of the other block. The tongues maybe provided with a vertical through-hole positioned so that the holes intwo (or more) mating blocks are in vertical alignment and registration,whereby a dowel, bar or pin, preferably formed from a plastics material,may be inserted therethrough to secure them in mechanical engagement. Inanother aspect, therefore, the invention provides a kit of parts forassembly of a wall, the kit comprising blocks (as hereinbeforedescribed) including at least one end tongue formed with a through-holeand dowels, bars or pins for engagement in two or more tongues arrangedwith through-holes in registration. The dowels, bars and pins shouldpreferably be a reasonably close fit in the through-holes, typically ofno more than 2 mm clearance, to prevent mis-registration of adjacentblocks.

Preferably, the mating surfaces are formed to be essentially flat,whereby the joint between two blocks is minimised; preferably also, theflat surface extends along the entire upper and lower edges of theblocks, whereby the entire periphery of each block presents a flatmating surface for engagement with other blocks above and below as wellas at each end.

Walling blocks according to the invention may be straight or curved andpreferably include horizontal and vertical mating surfaces at each end.Corner blocks may be provided, in which the horizontal and verticalmating surfaces are provided at respective ends disposed orthogonally toeach other. The respective ends may be arranged with the tonguesalternately disposed, that is, with the tongue at one end being formedin the lower half of the block and the tongue at the opposite end beingformed in the upper half, but alternatively the tongues may be formed inthe same half, whereby the block is “T”-shaped. The blocks arepreferably double-sided, whereby both side surfaces simulate an intendedwalling material, such as brick or natural stone. In use, suitablecoping stones may be applied to the upper-facing edge surface of theupper course of blocks, to provide a finished appearance.

It will be appreciated that, using walling blocks according to theinvention, walls may be constructed of any size or shape and may bestraight, curved or reverse-curved, whereby the wall has a “snake”appearance. Walls may be used to define enclosed areas such as circles,“D”-shapes and the like, as desired and entirely at the discretion ofthe consumer.

Walling blocks according to the invention may be made from any suitablereconstituted material, whether natural or synthetic, held together witha suitable bonding agent. Preferably, they are made by a castingprocess, each block, despite having the same surface configuration ordecoration, nevertheless giving the appearance, in the finished wall, ofa wall made from naturally-occurring materials by a skilled craftsman.The blocks preferably comprise a lightweight aggregate and optionally alow-density filler or extender to reduce the weight of the finishedproduct, to render the blocks easier to transport and use.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a straight walling block;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a “T”-shaped straight block;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of an alternative straight block with onlyone end formed with mating surfaces;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a corner block;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of two straight blocks mated together; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a “D”-shaped enclosure formed fromblocks according to the invention and coping stones.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a straight walling block 10formed in a mould from reconstituted stone, that is, ground orcomminuted stone with a suitable binder, with side faces representingindividual stone blocks 11, 12 joined together by mortar 13. The endfaces 14, 15 and upper 16 and lower edge faces are formed substantiallyflat with the respective end faces and edge faces being parallel,whereby the overall configuration is rectangular. The block is formedwith longitudinally-protruding tongues 17, 18 which each extendrespectively from the upper and lower edges to half the height of theblock and are therefore disposed alternately. The medial edge 19 oftongue 18, and also the corresponding edge of tongue 17, are formed withessentially flat surfaces which meet the end surfaces orthogonally.Holes or channels 20, 21 are formed through respective tongues 17, 18 toreceive, in use, a bar or mandrel for connecting together adjacentblocks with their tongues engaged and the holes or channels inregistration.

FIG. 2 shows a block 22 which is generally similar to that shown in FIG.1 but the block is generally “T”-shaped, with the tongues 23, 24 formedin the same half of the block, considered in relation to its height.

FIG. 3 shown a further embodiment 25 including only one tongue 27, theend 26 of the block being suitable for the exposed end of a wall.

FIG. 4 shows a corner block 28 suitable for use with blocks as shown inany of FIGS. 1 to 3, or curved blocks, to form a wall extending in twomutually-orthogonal directions, at least as extending initially from thecorner block itself.

FIG. 5 shows the end portions of two blocks 10 as shown in FIG. 1 joinedin end-to-end relationship with their tongues in engagement and themating surfaces in contact; a rod or mandrel 31 is, as shown, in theprocess of being inserted through the holes or apertures formed in thetongues and which are in registration, whereby the blocks aremechanically connected together.

FIG. 6 shows a completed wall in the form of a D and constructed fromcorner blocks 28 as shown in FIG. 4, straight blocks 10 and/or 22 asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, curved blocks otherwise similar to those shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 and coping stores. As illustrated, the wall isdouble-sided. Although stepped joints 30 between adjacent blocks arevisible in the drawing, the joints are largely insignificant in relationto the simulated stone blocks and the wall has the appearance of havingbeen build from individual natural stones joined together by mortar.

1. A walling product comprising reconstituted walling material formed asa block, in which at least one end of the block is adapted for mutualengagement with the corresponding end of another such block, said endproviding both horizontal and vertical mating surfaces.
 2. A wallingproduct according to claim 1, in which the ends of the blocks which areadapted for respective mutual engagement present two vertical matingsurfaces extending respectively from the upper and lower faces of theblock to a medial position, the surfaces being longitudinally spacedapart and joined by a horizontal mating surface.
 3. A walling productaccording to claim 1 or claim 2, in which said at least one end of theblock is provided with a through-hole for receiving in use a dowel, baror pin.
 4. A walling product according to claim 3, in which the end ofthe block comprises a tongue, the tongue being formed with thethrough-hole positioned so that the holes in two (or more) mating blocksare in vertical alignment and registration.
 5. A walling productaccording to any preceding claim, including horizontal and verticalmating surfaces at each end.
 6. A walling product according to anypreceding claim, which the respective ends are arranged with the tonguesformed in the same upper or lower half, whereby the block is “T” shaped.7. A walling product according to any preceding claim, in which theblock is double-sided, whereby both side surfaces simulate an intendedwalling material.
 8. A kit of parts for assembly of a wall, the kitcomprising blocks according to any of claims 1 to 7 including at leastone end tongue formed with a through-hole and dowels, bars or pins forengagement in two or more tongues arranged with through-holes inregistration.
 9. A kit according to claim 8, in which the dowels, barsand pins are formed from a plastics material.
 10. A wall formed fromblocks according to any of claims 1 to 7, arranged end to end withrespective ends in mutual engagement.